While there are many people looking to score sites in the hopes to snag one of the latest video cards to push 4K on their PC, there are many who still want to experience games at 1080P in high frame rates. Thankfully ViewSonic has not forgotten you, and have their new ViewSonic XG2705, offering a stunning 1080P 144Hz refresh rate experience that any gamer on PC or console will salivate over.
As with many other modern ViewSonic offerings — the ELITE XG270QC for example — the XG2705 offers sleek clean look, a solid base, and gives the option for height, tilt and swivel adjustment, allowing any you to find the perfect viewing position. At first sight it is deceptive how many adjustments can be made, but the XG2705 should meet the needs of even the most discerning player. Using it on our test rig, the monitor offered great viewing angles, even with the dreaded overhead lights, combined with the simple setup and unboxing, it has been a joy to test and work with.
Performance wise, the XG2705 managed high marks on most things we expect from this level of modern gaming display. Offering a 27″ IPS panel with 1ms response times means it was great with a range of viewing angles, offered a sharp clear picture, and managed great visual quality, delivering deep blacks and rich vibrant visuals. The 144Hz refresh rate was also a joy to play on, jumping into some Counterstrike: GO, or Doom (2016), the potential of the high frame rate was quickly made evident. Games looked sharp and clear, even during fast movement with plenty of action on screen. Overall, everyone at CGM was impressed with how well the XG2705 faired, making it one of the office favourites.
While testing we did not notice any ghosting, or blur while gaming, and even when testing the monitor with various workflows, including the Adobe suite, along with many other tools we use at the magazine, everything felt sharp and responsive. While this monitor was clearly made with gaming in mind, for anyone that needs a 1080p work horse, the XG2705 seems to fair very well. The 27″ worth of visual real estate made video editing, and other visual production piplines felt fantastic. It should be noted that while it looked good, for any production work, where colour matching is important, there are better options, as we found some of the output slightly different than what we saw on our production displays, but this also could be settings or the different computer at the time of testing.
That being said, using our testing tools, the XG2705 offered near 100% coverage of the sRGB spectrum and around 75% of the AdobeRGB. This is well within what most people would need for a display, and close to what a designer would need for light work. With a peak brightness of 340nits, it is vibrant, but not near as bright as some other displays, and does lack HDR. The XG2705 also does offer Freesync that is a great addition to any high framerate display, and helped ensure there was little to no screen tearing, keeping you in the experience, rather than stairing at the potential issues.
In terms of other specs and features, the XG2705 offers 2 HDMI 1.4 ports, a 3.5mm audio out port, and 1 display port. The display also has built in speakers, but while they do work, and sound “good enough” they should not be your primary audio source, since the sound can feel flat, especially compared to many other audio options currently on the market. The port offering while not extensive, should be more than enough for most players setups, allowing a console and PC both plugged in at the same time.
There are countless options on the market offering more features, but few 1080P offerings deliver this level of visual quality and clarity, and at the mid tier price, the ViewSonic is a no-brainer for anyone in need of a quality display. Costing around $299USD, the ViewSonic XG2705 Gaming Monitor is a great option for anyone that depends on the best even when not delivering 4K content. View sonic have outdone themselves with this offering, and they remain one of the best values for buyers that demand quality for all their PC and console needs.
